Photograph used with the kind permission of Phil Carradice

Part I

The `ESC’ at any time to stop the presentation.

Pembroke Dock in June 2005

View Pembroke Dock in 1940

Pembroke Dock on August 19th, 1940

How big was this fire judging by the amount of black smoke that can be seen?

What could be on fire and what could have caused the fire?

Photograph used with the kind permission of Phil Carradice

The Education and School Improvement

Service Taken from Wales and the Second World War by Phillip Tapper and Susan Hawthorne, 1991

This is a photo of the fire from a different angle. Now can you work out what is on fire?

Source from:

“One day I was with friends and my two brothers. We were

sat on the front steps sharing comics when a plane flew over

and it seemed to have a ladder underneath it. We thought

that the Germans were invading. We shouted for our

parents. My dad took one look and grabbed as many of us

as he could and put us in the cellar. It wasn’t a ladder – it

was a line of bombs. At the mouth of the estuary were huge

oil storage tanks and it was these that the bombs were

dropped on. Now we knew what war was like. The tanks

burned for weeks lighting up the whole town.”

Jean Reynolds was a schoolgirl living in Pembroke Dock in 1940. Jean witnessed the bombing of the oil tanks on the 19th August.

Which sentence emphasises the scale of this fire?

Image courtesy of Pembrokeshire Record Office, Ref: HDX/101/64

The fire as seen from across the estuary in Milford Haven

George Fish was an auxiliary fireman. Why was the job that he was given particularly dangerous?

It was our job to drive loads of petrol in two and

five gallon drums, down to Pennar Point to keep

the pumps operating there. It wasn’t such a bad

number until the heat from the burning tanks set

the fencing posts on either side of the road alight,

and the sparks started flying. We really shifted

down the road that day.

Taken from Wales and the Second World War by Phillip Tapper and Susan Hawthorne, 1991

Auxiliary means to be in reserve – to support a main service.

Source from:

The Education and School Improvement

Service

One of the officers came up to me and said ‘I

understand, Reynolds, that you know a bit about

pumps? Well, the pumps have stopped in the boat

and we want you to go and have a look at them.’

They were pumping water up from the Haven – four

pumps sat in a boat out in the river, in Pennar Gut.

Where were the firemen getting much of the water that they needed to control and put out the fires?

Hubert ‘Buzzer’ Reynolds quoted in Wales at War by Phil Carradice (Gomer 2004)

Go to the next slide to hear more from Hubert ‘Buzzer’ Reynolds.

Hubert ‘Buzzer’ Reynolds quoted in Wales at War by Phil Carradice (Gomer 2004)

Well, two or three blokes rowed me out to this boat

where the pumps were. There was no water going

through the hoses because these pumps had stopped.

I was in the middle of putting petrol in, to get them

going again, when Jerry (The Germans) dropped more

bombs. It looked like a bunch of grapes coming down.

The bombs landed right in the gut. They didn’t land on

me, fortunately; they landed a couple of hundred

yards away.

I poured in the petrol to get the pumps working and

then I got out of there. That was the end of the job as

far as I was concerned: the water was back on, cooling

the tanks.

A couple of days later Glanville Evans (another

Pembroke Dock auxiliary) and I were working at

Pennar Barracks when a German plane dropped a

couple of bombs and started machine-gunning

firemen. We ducked under a wooden, billet-like

building used by the Army as a store. Then as we lay

there, we heard a rustling, squeaking noise and saw

scores of rats on the move and all coming towards us.

They’d been frightened by the bombs. We kept

absolutely still and they passed us and ran out into

the open.

What do you find so shocking about the actions of the German aircraft? Why may the German aircrew have done this?

Taken from Wales and the Second World War by Phillip Tapper and Susan Hawthorne, 1991

Source from:

The Education and School Improvement

Service

Jean Reynolds remembers an attack on the firemen.

“To help put the fire out fire fighters from all over

came to help and were housed in a large building at

the end of our street called The Temperance Hall. It

was used for concerts and dances in peace time. One

night after the enemy dropped their bombs they flew

down our street shooting at the building and houses.

The windows shattered and broken glass and wood

was everywhere.”

“The poor firemen from the Hall were injured, cut and

bleeding. The street was in shock. Then someone called

for bandages. The houses were opened up and sheets and

towels were brought down and torn into strips. We

children had to keep out of the way, but my mother

worked all night. We all said she should be a nurse.”

Jean Reynolds also remembers the aftermath.

Photograph used with the kind permission of Phil Carradice

What did FiremenLook like at this time?

Take a closer lookPhotographs courtesy of Torfaen Museum Trust

Photographs courtesy of Torfaen Museum Trust

Photographs courtesy of Torfaen Museum Trust

What do you think NFS stands for and why were firemen issued

with steel helmets?

Lots of us started running when the flame shot out of

the burning tank on Thursday, August 22nd. The

trouble was the five Cardiff firemen ran the wrong

way and the flame wrapped itself around them. Chief

Arthur Morris and I threw markers so that they’d

know where to look for the bodies. When they found

them there wasn’t much left.

Taken from Wales and the Second World War by Phillip Tapper and Susan Hawthorne, 1991

Jack Vincent describes the scene at the oil tanks on Thursday, August 22nd.

•How long had the fires been raging at this point?

• Does this help to further reinforce the argument for this being a devastating attack by the Luftwaffe?

Source from:

The Education and School Improvement

Service

Well, they say here today, gone tomorrow, but there’s

other ways of going. It was so sad, a real shocker.

After the tragedy we were sent home, some of us. But

really you remained down there, thinking about it.

According to Hubert ‘Buzzer’ Reynolds and John Walsh the firemen who tackled the oil fires were very badly shaken by

what they had experienced. Do you find this surprising?

Use all of the evidence gathered so far when answering this question.

I was shattered. I was sick. I was frightened. Every time I

went back there I used to think, ‘That could have been me.

By the grace of God…That could have been me or Joe next

door.’

Hubert ‘Buzzer’ Reynolds quoted in Wales at War by Phil Carradice (Gomer 2004)

John Walsh quoted in Wales at War by Phil Carradice (Gomer 2004)

Bearing the bodies of those firemen killed while fighting the oil fire at Llanreath.

Photograph used with the kind permission of Phil Carradice

Which organisation has provided the truck to bear the bodies of the Cardiff firemen who lost their lives fighting the oil tank

fires?

Why were these targets chosen?

Factual evidence

What did witnesses see and experience?

END